Current State of Affairs.

As I’ve probably mentioned before: my 2017 has started in a tumultuous fashion. Emotions have been running wild, and a few not-so-great things have happened as a result. However, things are finally starting to recover.

Fund-raising event in Surrey.

For the benefit of those who didn’t listen: I had pledged not to participate in any events this year, even as a guest. However, there was one exception…

Farnham Assist is an organisation based in Surrey that supports the elderly, particularly with regard to feelings of isolation. They’re holding a fund-raising event on the 6th May in Farnham, and a few people (including myself) at last year’s Great Western Brick Show were asked to participate.

A motivating factor was the opportunity to “stick it” to the local university, as Farnham was the town I’d survived three years of hell in. But even more important than misguided ideas of revenge is supporting those who feel isolated. It’s something that most of you make fun of, but is a reality for an ever-growing number of people – including those who aren’t elderly.

Paredes de Coura Fan Weekend.

Even with my hiatus, I was invited back to the Paredes de Coura Fan Weekend in Portugal. I wasn’t required to display anything this time, but I’ve been working on something behind the scenes.

I’m not going to go into detail about it, but there’s not much building – and still a lot of work – involved. As always, there’s the risk of the concept falling completely flat – but those who want to “get it” will get it, and those who don’t will refuse to.

Swapfig.

We’re approaching Swapfig’s fourth birthday, and the whole crowdfunding debacle finally came to an end last week, as the last batch of rewards were posted.

Work is slowly underway on 2.0, which started out as a simple redesign but has become an almost complete rewrite. As the focus is going to be on attracting a wider audience than the online LEGO community, it’s more important to future-proof the site as much as possible.

On this end, I’d like to thank everybody who has supported Swapfig over the last four years, whether it’s been through donations, ad revenue or word of mouth. Even if I haven’t said it directly, I always appreciate the support.

And finally…

Through all of my antics, complaining and belly aching, and as crazy as I’ve been since becoming an AFOL, there have been people who’ve been incredibly supportive – whether of me, my work, or both. Without them I literally wouldn’t be anywhere, and I wouldn’t have had such amazing experiences over the last seven(!) or so years.

I’m resisting the urge to name drop, but among the people I’m talking about are those behind a (formerly) print-based magazine, someone who writes about parts, a Neo Classic Space person and a few people I’ve engaged on Flickr and/or Twitter.

That’s all I have to say for now, so I’m going to get back to work on this fan weekend display.